Day: September 14, 2008

To top it off, McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said this to the Politico about the increased media scrutiny of the campaign’s factual claims: “We’re running a campaign to win. And we’re not too concerned about what the media filter tries to say about it.”

The Express is headed down the road with bits of chrome hanging off the side. The breaks sound like an animal in pain. The exhaust is so thick some people think its a brush fire on wheels. Mac and Sarah keep the pedal to the floor. Kids and puppys run for cover. Lies keep flying off, they’re determined nothing will stop them. Including the fact checkers. Fact checkers are “filters” and they don’t need no stink’n filters.

Instead of smelly T-shirts, Chaix and colleague Peter Donnelly of the University of Oxford studied previously gathered genetic data on 30 Caucasian couples from Utah and 30 Yoruba couples from Nigeria. The researchers analysed about 9000 genetic differences within the MHC genes, as well as more than 3 million differences dotted across the rest of their genomes.

This suggests that the American couples are selecting mates, in large part, based on MHC genes.

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) gene region plays a role in auto immunity. The Utah couples seemed to be drawn to mates that had MHC genes that complimented their own. In Sleepless in Seattle Dennis Reed (David Hyde Pierce) was on to something when he said, “Annie, when you’re attracted to someone, it just means that your subconscious is attracted to their subconscious, subconsciously. So what we think of as fate is just two neuroses knowing that they are a perfect match.” Maybe what you’re attracted to is the subconcious scent of certain genes.